Disability Discrimination In The Cruise Industry

[Doug362]

I am a full-time wheelchair user, having worked (shoreside) in the cruise industry. I have also been on a few cruise holidays (with no assistance from family/friends etc.

My ambition is to work on board cruise ships, but cruise lines say that I cannot work on board cruise ships because I am disabled.

My query is this... What is the difference between a person with a disability working on a cruise ship, and a person with a disability going on a cruise ship for a holiday? I mean, in an emergency, everybody still has to get off the ship.

What is the law in respect of people with disabilities working on cruise ships? Is there a specific law that states that people with disabilites are "not allowed" to work on cruise ships? If not, then, surely it is against the law - and discrimination - for cruise companies to stop people with disabilities working on cruise ships, without a "legitimate" reason, other than "You would not be able to get off the ship swiftly enough, and you would be a hazzard to other passengers" (which is what I have been told!)

Any assistance with this would be great appreciated.

Thank You

[retrocop]

Never been on a cruise yet but I will guess.
If you worked on a cruise liner as,say a purser, and were confined to a wheelchair your other duties, maybe to man lifeboat stations in an evacuation and assist passengers into the life boats etc. Most crew members on Royal Navy vessels have secondary roles, Fire control party etc.

[retrocop]

I notice this Norwegian cruise line states it does not discriminate against employees or applicants disabilities.
https://www.ncl.com/about/careers/shipboard-employment

[retrocop]

Having read through again I think you have answered your own question.

//My query is this... What is the difference between a person with a disability working on a cruise ship, and a person with a disability going on a cruise ship for a holiday? I mean, in an emergency, everybody still has to get off the ship.//

My suggestion would be yes ,everybody still has to get off the ship but it would be the crews job to get the passengers both disabled and non disabled off first with assistance from the crew. (unless it is an Italian or Greek registered ship) :-(

[woofgang]

I think that what is the case here is called a “genuine occupational requirement” Basically it means that the needs of the job are such that certain people couldn’t do the job by reason of their gender, physical abilities and so on.

[trt]

I have been on 2 cruises, and from what I remember it would be difficult for somebody in a wheelchair, as there are quite a few staircases to different floor parts of the ship.

Would a blind person be allowed to cruise?

[Hopkirk]

It may be that the passenger areas are all fully accessible, but staff areas are much more challenging.

[andy-hughes]

trt - //I have been on 2 cruises, and from what I remember it would be difficult for somebody in a wheelchair, as there are quite a few staircases to different floor parts of the ship. //

I have cruised on a number of different ships, and from what I see, the only access for disabled passengers between decks is by lift, and in an emergency, the lifts would be taken out of action, so disabled passengers would need to be moved by other means.

I would guess that specific arrangements are made for them for emergencies, and as advised earlier, all crew would have responsibilities for evacuating people - and that would be prevented if the crew member themselves needed to be evacuated by other crew members.

[murraymints]

as woofy says a genuine occupational requirement

[atalanta]

It may be that a ship operates an unstated (?) policy of limiting the number of wheelchair passengers it takes. I know theatres can limit the number of wheelchairs they will allow on the premises, simply as a safety measure.

[hc4361]

Also crew accommodation is not to the same standard as passenger accommodation and is considerably smaller. It is very likely crew cabins could not provide for wheelchair access and storage, especially in the bathroom.